Our Lord demands that we lose our lives to his
will, his dominion, his purpose. He demands that we take up our
cross and follow him. He demands that we bow to his
dominion in everything. And frankly, sometimes the warfare
is just too much for me to handle. Sometimes the battle, too great. Sometimes the pilgrimage seems
to lead through too many difficult slaws of despond and too many
hills of difficulty and too many trials. And I'm tempted to just
give it up. I'm just, what's the use? I can't
go on. And our Lord understood. that
we would sometimes be tempted of Satan, tempted in our flesh,
tempted in the face of adversity, tempted in the face of this world
and trials and constant, the constant bombardment made on
our lives, the constant demands made of this thing called faith,
the constant demands of Christianity, the constant demands of following
him. He knew it's too much for our flesh. And so when he had
made these demands, when he said, except a man take up his cross
and follow me, he cannot be my disciple. When he said, except
you lose your life for my sake in the Gospels, you cannot find
it and you cannot save it. When he demanded that unless
we were willing, willing as the servants of God, willing as the
children of God, to follow him and be unashamed of him and confess
him in this adulterous and wicked generation. And our Lord recognized
that these things being too much for us, we needed some encouragement.
We need something to inspire us, to motivate us, to keep us
going when the chips are down and the burdens are heavy and
our hearts are aching. And he gives it to us with the
blessed prospect of the glory that awaits us. Now, children
of God, remember the context in which our text this morning
is found, Mark chapter nine. It immediately follows these
demanding, exacting requirements of discipleship. Our Lord gives
us these verses of Scripture here and this blessed revelation
of the transfiguration that is described here. He gives it to
inspire and motivate and strengthen our hearts so that whenever we're
tempted to give up, whenever we're tempted to just step out
of the way, whenever we're tempted to quit, then we ought to remember
the glory that awaits us and the glory that's promised us.
For I have not seen, neither have you heard, nor has it been
revealed unto man the things which God has prepared for them
that love him, serve him, and wait for him. When we're tempted
to give up the fight, to turn from the battle, we ought to
seek a fresh vision of Christ and his glory and the glory that's
promised us in him. Now with those things in mind,
I want us to look this morning at Mark chapter nine, verses
one through 13. Let's read the whole paragraph
together and then I will come back and let me show you two
or three things that are found in this passage. And he said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them
that stand here, which shall not taste of death till they
have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six
days, Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth
them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was
transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining,
exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white
them. And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses, and they
were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to
Jesus, Master, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three
tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elijah. For
he wished not what to say. for they were sore afraid. And
there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of
the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they looked
round about, they saw no man anymore save Jesus only with
themselves. And as they came down from the
mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what
things they'd seen. till the Son of Man were risen
from the dead. And they kept that saying with
themselves, questioning with one another what the rising from
the dead should mean. And they asked him, saying, Why
say the scribes that Elijah must first come? And he answered and
told them, Elijah verily cometh first and restoreth all things. how it is written of the son
of man that he must suffer many things and be said it not. But
I say unto you that Elias or Elijah is indeed come and they
have done to him whatsoever they listed as it is written of him. Now, let me show you three things
in this passage of scripture. First in verse one, we see the
promised kingdom described here by our Lord. He said, Verily
I say unto you, there be some of them that stand here which
shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of
God come with power. Now these disciples were, as
I told you before, obviously terribly perplexed. They were
perplexed and troubled by our Lord's declaration that he must
be delivered to the Romans, killed, that he must himself be put to
death, for they would look to him to establish his kingdom
in Israel. They were certainly troubled by the demands that
he made upon them, saying, if you would be my disciples, if
you would follow me, it's going to involve great cost. And I'm
telling you that if you would enter into the kingdom of God,
if you would be the disciple of Jesus Christ, it's a whole
lot more than deciding whether or not you want to go to heaven
when you die. This matter of following Christ is bowing to
the rule and dominion of Jesus Christ, the sovereign king. It
is entering into a kingdom. It is entering into a kingdom
under the rule of Christ the king, voluntarily. It is entering
into a kingdom among whom the saints of God live in this world
in constant hostility against those who oppose the king. so
that we live in this world in a kingdom under the rule of Christ
in constant warfare with the world around us, with the flesh
within us, and with the devil who opposes us. This business
of salvation is a matter of enlisting under the banner of Jesus Christ
our Lord and our King. I'm not overly concerned about
your views of prophetic things. I'm not terribly concerned what
kind of prophetic ideas you have or don't have. But it is a great
mistake, it is a very great mistake, to miss the teachings of Scripture
with regard to the kingdom in its spiritual, present nature. I recognize with regard to future
things, none of us knows much. And those who think they know
a lot, know less than the rest of us. With regard to future
things, there's very little that is plain and clear. There's just
certain things concerning the fact that Christ is coming, that
he's coming to make all things new, that hell is eternal and
everlasting glory is eternal, whatever it is. But this, I want
you to understand. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is
now. and forever. It is a spiritual
kingdom, not an earthly, material, carnal kingdom such as the Jews
looked for. We do not look for some future
time when the Lord Jesus will establish a literal, earthly,
millennial kingdom among the Jews. It seems utter nonsense
to me to imagine that he would exchange the throne of eternal
glory over all the universe for a throne over in Palestine so
that the Jews would honor him. He is not coming to this earth
again to establish his kingdom. He's coming to this earth again
as the king whose kingdom has been established. Do you understand
the difference? Our Lord Jesus Christ is presently king over
all things, and you must bow to him as such, or you will perish
under his wrath when he comes again. Our Lord told his disciples
plainly that his kingdom was then about to be established.
Do you see that in verse 1? He says there's some of you standing
right here. Some of you standing right here, right now, who shall
not taste death until the kingdom of God has come in power. Now that was not talking about
there's going to be some of you standing out yonder two or three
thousand years from now who will not taste death. He said there's
some of you standing right here with me, and he's looking only
at his disciples. They were the ones who were going
up with him into the mount. They're the ones who had heard
him speak these words concerning the demands of following him.
He said, there's some of you, Peter, James, John, Matthew,
and so on, who shall not taste death until you've seen the kingdom
of God come in power. So he's certainly not talking
about some future millennial kingdom. We read for our scripture
reading in Revelation chapter 20, not by accident. Because
I want you to understand that we now live in the kingdom of
Jesus Christ our Lord. And that millennial kingdom that's
described in Revelation 20 is not a literal millennial kingdom,
but a spiritual millennial kingdom. The thousand years described
there refers to the whole gospel age, beginning with the glorious
advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his triumph over all things,
and his second coming when he shall come again in power and
in great glory. We who believe, then, are the
Israel of God. God's church is His kingdom,
the true Zion. Believers are the children of
Abraham. Now, I'm not suggesting by any
means anything that is in any way to be interpreted as being
anti-Semitic, not in the least. What I am declaring is that the
physical seed of Abraham are not the seed of Abraham. What
I am declaring is that the physical nation of Israel is not the Israel
of God. What I am declaring is that that
nation over yonder across the water in the east is not the
holy nation chosen of God. The church and kingdom of God,
they are the Israel of God. Those who believe, Paul says
plainly, are the children of Abraham. The blessings of God,
the promises of God, the blessings of grace, the covenants of God,
do not come upon anyone because of physical lineage, neither
Jew nor Gentile, but they're in Jesus Christ the Lord. Now,
if you would obtain the blessings promised of God to sinners, if
you would obtain the blessedness of God's covenant, if you would
obtain all those things promised of God to those who are the objects
of His mercy, love, and grace, you must find yourself a way
to be united to Jesus Christ the Lord. For apart from Him,
there's nothing but wrath and cursing, no matter who your father
is. Be your father Abraham or Moses
or one of these dear men or women sitting here today, I'm telling
you, the blessings of God are not according to flesh and blood,
but by the power and spirit of His grace. The kingdom of God
began when the Lord Jesus Christ entered into His glory as our
resurrected Lord and Savior, the King of glory. All this fanciful
nonsense. about a secret rapture. You've
heard about it all your life. Bibles are written, lots of Bibles
with notes talking all about a secret rapture. Man, they cross-reference
and they draw diagrams and they move this passage here and this
passage there and they fit it all together so you know how
it all fits. It's all nonsense. It is just the invention of man.
This idea that somehow there's going to be a future seven-year
tribulation period in which God is going to give the Jews a second
chance to be saved, that there's going to be a literal thousand-year
reign in which Christ is first going to come and set up a kingdom
over in Palestine, reign for a thousand years, then he's going
to come again. that He's going to first come in secret, then
come in glory. It's all the invention of man.
There is not one shred of evidence for such stuff in the Word of
God, not the slightest. When Christ comes the second
time, it's not going to be a secret rapture. He's not coming in secret. I see no way in the New Testament
where the second coming of Christ is spoken of as something that's
secret. And I said, well, he's coming as a thief in the night.
That's for the folks who aren't expecting him. For those who
are expecting him, they're looking for him. And he comes with power
and in great glory. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 1. Let
me show you. 2 Thessalonians 1. Look at verse 6. And nothing secret about this
thing. All my life, since I was a boy,
folks, they try to scare you to death with this stuff. They
show pictures of graves. Somebody gets up one morning,
all the graves are open. Wife's gone. This fellow's gone. That one's
gone. You wonder what's happened. The rapture took place and he's
left. No, no, there's not gonna be any secret about this. When
Christ comes and the saints of God are called up to glory, immediately
judgment comes and he shall consume his enemies with the power of
his arm. Look at 2 Thessalonians 1 verse
6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation
to those that trouble you. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels, inflaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power,
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. and to be admired
in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed
in that day. Now by the way, what this is
saying is that it's right for Christ to judge men, he's gonna
judge men, he's gonna do it publicly, and he's gonna do it in a very
bold, decorative manner so as to identify you as his own and
these as his foes. In this opening verse of scripture
here in Mark 9, Our Lord Jesus tells us three things specifically
about his kingdom. First he said it would come,
and that it would come so as to be seen. The kingdom of the
Messiah was to be set up in the world by the utter destruction
of the Jewish nation. When the scripture speaks in
Joel chapter 2 of the sun being turned into darkness and the
moon into blood, obviously Merle is talking about something of
a spiritual nature rather than a physical thing. Because in
the very following verses he says, in that day it will come
to pass, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. So when he talks about sun and moon being turned into
darkness and blood, he's talking about light being taken from
a people and judgment coming upon those people. He's talking
about light being taken from the Jewish nation and judgment
coming upon the Jewish nation because they would not believe
and obey the gospel. As you read the scriptures, way
back in Genesis chapter 49 and verse 10, The Lord God made this
declaration. He said the lawgiver and the
scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. And the direct implication of
that is that as soon as Shiloh has come, then the scepter and
the lawgiver shall be taken from Judah. That is, the civil and
the spiritual government and nation of Israel shall be destroyed. And so it was that our Lord Jesus
says to the nation of Israel, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft
would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathered her
chickens under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house
is left unto you desolate. God's judgment fell upon that
nation. It fell upon that nation spiritually so that the light,
the sword that they had was turned to darkness. And their light
today is darkness in which they are consumed. Not only that,
but the moon, their civil government was turned to blood and judgment
came. In 70 AD, the Lord God sent the
armies of Titus into Jerusalem and leveled the city and destroyed
the civil government of that nation as well. In Romans chapters
9, 10, and 11, the Holy Spirit explains to us that these things
came to pass. so that the gospel which had
been revealed up to that time only to the nation of Israel
might now be spread to the four corners of the earth, that God
might gather together his elect out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue, and so all Israel shall be saved. All God's
elect out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue shall be called,
because in God's good providence he has brought it to pass exactly
as it is. And secondly, our master asserted
that his kingdom would come with power, with power so as to make its
own way. with power so as to bear down
all opposition against it. With such power as he described
in Matthew 16 when he said, I build my church on this rock. Speaking
of himself, the confession of him being the son of God. I build
my church on this rock and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it. The kingdom of God's coming with
power. It came with power when the Holy Spirit was poured out
on the day of Pentecost. It came with manifest power when
the Roman armies came and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. It came with
power when the gospel was first brought into the Gentile world,
and dispelled their darkness, and caused their idols to fall
before them, and caused those who worshipped idols to turn
to the living God. That's exactly what Paul describes
in 1 Thessalonians 1. He said, we know your election
of God, because our gospel came to you not in word only, but
in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, so that
you who once served dumb idols carved out of your own, by your
own hands, you've turned from them to serve the living and
true God. The kingdom of God still comes in power. Oh, may
it come in power to you this day. Every time the Holy Spirit
conquers a rebel sinner's heart and causes him to throw up the
white flag of surrender to the rule and dominion of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God has been established
with power in the hearts of men. Christ has come and set up his
throne in the heart of that man captured by his grace. And then
thirdly, our Lord tells us here that there will be some standing
on the earth. who would not taste death when
the kingdom of God had come, who were standing with him right
here in this place at this time. In other words, it's much the
same as what he said in Matthew 24. Verily I say unto you, this
generation shall not pass away till these things be fulfilled.
Our Lord was telling the disciples plainly, now listen, while you
don't have things straight yet about my kingdom, while you don't
yet understand the spiritual nature of my kingdom, it's not
out yonder in the future. It's right now. You see, most
prophetic theology, most prophetic doctrine is really religious
escapism. Men and women prefer to deal
with prophecy. Let's talk about prophecy. I
never met a sot anywhere who didn't want to talk about the
moon being turned into blood. Never. I mean, I spoke to fellows who
were drunks on the street immediately when somebody told them I was
a preacher. Oh, you know what? What about the fig tree? And
what they're doing is we don't want to deal with the king and
his claims now. That would interfere too much
with our lives. Let's talk about the king and his claims after
I'm done. Now listen to me. You're going to deal with the
king and his claims now. Right now. And all eternity yet
to come. will deal with you according
to your dealing with the king and his claims right now. You
will either bow to Christ now or you'll perish under his wrath
forever. Our Lord Jesus tells these disciples
that his kingdom would come, that it would come real soon.
In a matter of just a few days, Just a little while, the kingdom
of God will be here. And when it comes, you'll know
it. You'll see it. The rest of the world can't see
it. The rest of the world won't be able to comprehend it. The
rest of the world will spend the next 2,000 years writing
novels about the apocalypse and making movies about the coming
of Antichrist and making great stir about the time of the conflagration
of the universe when all things will be destroyed by some Arab-Jew
conflict over oil. The whole world will be duped. But you who are born of God will
see the kingdom. and you will see the kingdom for you've entered
into it. The natural man can't. He just simply can't see it.
He cannot enter into it. Our Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus,
except you're born again, you can't see the kingdom of God.
You can't see it. It cometh not with observation,
except you're born again. You cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. This is a kingdom in which men and women are brought,
into which men and women are brought by the power of the new
birth, which they see only by divine revelation when they've
been made by grace to bow to Christ the King and worship Him
and honor Him as their Lord and King. Now having made this promise,
a promise which was altogether, altogether unbelievable at present,
is our Lord a poor man, a poor man. A man, a man who has now
begun to stir up the wrath of the whole world around him. A
man who, to all outward appearances, is a weak man. He has no political
strength, no political power, not even any political savvy
that men could grab and understand. To all outward appearance, this
promise was altogether unbelievable. He's the head of a little ragtag
band of nobodies. I mean, the only folks who followed
him were folks who decided to look at us as suspicious of you
anyhow. They're the only ones. Nobody paid any attention to
him. Nobody. And our Lord said, I'm coming in my kingdom right
soon, and you're going to see it. You're going to see it. Now, in order to strengthen their
faith, he gives them a sign of it, just to foretaste. And so
we have this prophetic vision in verses two through 10. After
six days, six days after making this promise, this prediction
of the kingdom, the Lord Jesus takes Peter, James, and John. He said, now, fellas, let's go
up into a high mountain. I got some things to show you.
I've got some things to show you. And they went up into this
high mountain. And Peter, James, and John, I
could just imagine them. Well, what are we going to see
now? Well, the Lord must have heard us discussing our doubts
concerning his promise. They go up this high mountain. When they get to the top of the
mountain, They just sit down, the Lord stands in front of them,
and they expect, the longer he stands there, the more serious
this thing's gonna be. And they didn't expect anything
like what they saw. They sat there and watched him. And scripture
says he was transfigured before them. That word, Ron, is the word from
which we get our word metamorphosis. He was changed not suddenly,
but gradually right in front of him. So great was the change
that his clothes shined with dazzling brilliance. And thus
our Lord Jesus gave a foretaste of the glory which awaited him,
into which he soon must enter. Though they were commanded to
say nothing at all about it at the time, Peter and John both
gave accounts of what they had seen. Peter said, we have not
followed cunningly devised fables. He said, now fellows, when I'm
telling you that Christ is the Lord, that Christ is the Lamb
of God, that Christ is the King seated in glory, when I'm telling
you that Christ is coming again, we've not followed cunningly
devised fables. When we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. I saw his majesty. I saw his
majesty. The Apostle John writes, that
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which our
hands have handled of the word of life, for the life was manifested. We've seen it and bear witness
and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father
and manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard,
declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with
us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. Now when Peter, James, and John
saw this manifestation of Christ's majesty, the majesty awaiting
him when he enters again into heaven's glory, having accomplished
eternal redemption for us. When they saw him there, Bob,
Moses, and Elijah appeared. Moses and Elijah. And they talked to the Savior.
And we don't have to guess what they talked about. Luke tells
us in Luke chapter 18, I believe it is, they talked to him about
the death which he would accomplish at Jerusalem. They came, Moses
and Elijah, who had been translated to heaven, and Moses who had
gone up to glory before, they came down to this earth, stood
with the Son of God on the mount as he was transfigured in front
of them, and they talked to him about what he was fixing to accomplish
when he went to Jerusalem by his death. And Peter, old brother
Peter, he was like James and John, terrified. And the scripture
says he blurted out because of his terror. He just blurted out,
Lord, it's good to be here. Let's stay here for now. Let's
build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for
Elijah, and we'll stay right here. I don't blame him. I'd
like to have stayed there too. Now this vision which is given
of us of our Lord Jesus Christ, Let me summarize the teachings
we have in it. First, it is a picture of the
glory which our great Savior has right now as our exalted
mediator and king. He said, Father, I will that
the glory which thou gavest me Now be mine. As I finish the
work you gave me, give me the glory which I had with you. Give me that glory promised me
in the covenant of grace. Give me that glory pledged to
me as the surety of my people. I've come now to the point where
I've fulfilled every requirement and I'm about to pay the ransom
price. And Father, I ask you that you
will give me the glory which I had with you before the world
was. And this picture we have of our Savior being transformed. glorious before the eyes of his
disciples, before the eyes of mortals still living upon the
earth, so that his garments glistened as he shone forth in his glory,
was just a slight portrayal of the glory which Jesus Christ
now has, having accomplished redemption for us. This vision of our Lord's transfiguration
was also a gracious pledge of the glorious things which are
in store for God's elect. The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians
3 verse 4, when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall
we also appear with him in glory. Though reviled and persecuted
in this world, Though despised and hated for the gospel's sake,
there is a day coming when we shall be clothed with
glory and honor and majesty, with the same glory with which
he is clothed, the same honor with which he is clothed, the
same majesty with which he is clothed. He said, the glory which
thou hast given me, I've given to them. Very same. In the ages to come, the Lord
God will show to all the world the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. Now, I can't pass this without making these observations. When our Lord Jesus stood on
the mount and was transfigured, and Peter, James, and John were
there with him, they saw Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah lived hundreds
of years apart. Hundreds of years apart. But
they knew each other real well, and talked to one another real
commonly. And these disciples, Peter, James,
and John, though they had never seen a picture of either, and
certainly had never seen either Moses or Elijah, immediately
knew Moses and Elijah. Well, How? Shoot, I don't know,
don't even care. I just know they knew them. That's
the point. They knew them. As soon as these
bodies close their eyes in death, believers like Moses and Elijah
enter into houses not made with hands, eternal in the Moses and Elijah aren't floating
around somewhere in the air. Moses and Elijah are clothed
with a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We buried our dear brother Friday
morning. Well, we didn't. We just buried
his tent. That's all. Soon as he closed
his eyes, drew his last breath. As I watched him, I thought,
he has now entered into a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Not only that, but those believers
know one another down the throne. Now, this is not guesswork. Moses
and Elijah knew each other. Peter, James, and John knew each
other. In Hebrews chapter 12, we're told that we're surrounded.
We on this earth are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses.
They're watching us. There are witnesses encouraging
us to continue in the race, to run with patience the race that's
set before us. They know each other, and they
talk to each other. They talk to the Lord Jesus,
and they talk to each other. and tell you what to talk about
more than anything else. The death which he accomplished
at Jerusalem. They speak before wandering angels
and they speak before one another with wonder and awe and joy and
understanding of the death which he accomplished at Jerusalem. You see, these who have entered
into glory At last, at last, at last, they've got the priorities
right. They got everything in order.
Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, here stand before
the Lord Jesus Christ. to tell us that the law and the
prophets all have their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and in the death
he accomplished at Jerusalem. Moses comes and says, Lord, this
is what I talked about in the law. This is the thing. I now understand. I didn't really
understand back then, but now I understand that everything
given to me at Sinai and every commandment and every institution
and every type and every sacrifice, every bit of the tabernacle,
every priest, every garment of the priesthood, everything was
talking about this. You're going to accomplish your
death at Jerusalem. Elijah, the prophet, he says,
This is what it was all about. This is what all those signs
and wonders were all about. This is what all the prophets
were declaring. The death you would accomplish
at Jerusalem for your people. You see, the law of God was not
given. I don't know how to say this
and not have some yahoo to misinterpret what I'm saying, but say it,
I must. The law of God was not given to be a religious plaque
to hang on the wall back here and say, these are 10 commandments
we're going to live out. It wasn't that. The law of God was not
given to be nothing more than a code of ethical conduct. It's
that, but it's much, much more than that. The law of God was
given to show us the necessity of a substitute who is perfect,
able to satisfy every demand of God's holiness and of God's
justice. The law of God was given to shut
us up to Christ, that we should be followers of Jesus Christ
the Lord. The prophets, the books of the
prophets were not written to give us some kind of a secret
code to decipher out, figure out when things are going to
happen, how they're going to happen. It is utterly amazing
to me what idiocy passes for theological understanding. I've
read books, I've seen fellows, listen to them talk to me. They
said, now, now I found the timetable. Now all you've got to do is put
this and this and this together. By the time they get done putting
it together, you could sooner figure out Albert Einstein's
mathematical equations. That's not the way you interpret
the word of God. No, the law and the prophets
were written to speak of Him. To speak of Him, not of Israel,
not of the United States, not of Russia, not of Poland, not
of Iraq or Iran, but of Him. It's all about Him and His sacrifice
for us. Now, what great comfort and consolation,
a sight and apprehension of Christ and his glory and the glory that
is ours in him. Oh, what consolation that gives
to troubled believers. When Peter speaks for himself
as well as James and John and says, Lord, let's stay right
here. Let's stay right here. Now I realize there's a lot in
that that Peter's to be blamed for. Certainly his statement
shows a slowness to hear the word of God, great ignorance
on his part, The Lord Jesus just told him just a few days before,
I'm going to be killed. And Peter said, it's not going
to happen. The Lord said, get behind me, Satan. Looks like that would
have shut his mouth, but here he is again. Lord, let's stay
right here. Let's forget everything you said. Let's stay right here.
Certainly this comment showed a very regrettable neglect and
forgetfulness of his brethren, a selfishness on his part. Let's stay right here. We won't
worry about the others. Without question, it showed the
foolishness of popping off about things about which we're ignorant.
Man, we're good at that. Trying to make some statement. Just pop off and say something.
Just say something. I heard a fellow say one time,
somebody asked him why he was so quiet. He said, I'd rather
keep my mouth shut and let everybody think I was a fool than open
my mouth and remove all doubt. Folks just pop off about nothing
all the time, as if they had some understanding of stuff.
Here Peter is, standing before the glorious Christ. And he got to say something,
just got to say something. And yet, having said all that,
if I'd have been there, oh, if I could be there right now, I'd
say exactly the same thing. Lord, let's stay right here.
If today, and indeed, preparing this message,
the Lord allowed me to go with him one more time into the mountaintop
for a little while, and to get some glimpse of his
glory. And I said exactly what Peter
did. Man, I hope never to drop this. I don't ever want to go
down that mountain again. I don't ever want to go back
down. It would do our hearts good to
look forward in the middle of our trials and try to get some
apprehension. of the indescribable pleasure
and glory awaiting us when we meet our Savior face to face,
never more depart. What shall we say? What shall
we say when we are made partakers of Christ's glory? Last Friday night at the funeral
home, I sat down with Mark and we visited a little bit, a little
bit of chit-chat. Then he began talking about some
good, serious stuff. He said, can you imagine what
rejoicing there is in heaven today? What emotions will flood our
souls when we enter into his holy company and know that we
shall never go out again? What shall it be to enter into
his glory? Peter had a foretaste. He said
we were eyewitnesses of his back. I suspect when that day comes,
we will, every one of us, with one heart and one voice, say,
Lord, it's good to be here. It's good to be here. And here we are given another
of those plain, clear declarations of our great Redeemer's God here. While they were with the Savior
and the mount, Moses and Elijah, standing in front of them, Peter, James, and John heard
God speak from heaven. He said, this is my beloved son. Hear him. That man Christ Jesus is here
described as himself, God, the eternal son. God manifest in
the flesh. He is Emmanuel, God with us. And he alone is to be heard.
This passage clearly shows us that Jesus Christ alone is the
voice of authority and power in his church and kingdom. Anything
that contradicts his word, Anything that speaks contrary to Him,
ignore it. Hear Him. Hear Him. Pay no attention
to anything that the multitudes may have embraced who speak contrary
to Him. Folks, forever. I mean, this
is true in the religious world, it's true in the secular world,
it's true with media everywhere. They said, now, the weight of
evidence, the weight of authority comes with the voice of the majority
in history. Oh, no. Now, listen to me. The majority is always wrong. Always, always has been. Always
has been. The majority now is always wrong. The majority in history has always
been wrong. And the majority speaking even
in religious things is especially wrong. Give you an example. Matter of fact, I don't have
to give it to you. The Lord does. In verses 11, 12, and 13. We have a perplexing question.
Now, let me just summarize this for you. Remember, Peter, James,
and John had been up in the mountain. They've seen Christ glorified
in front of them all. They've seen it. They've heard
Moses and Elijah speaking to him. They've heard God speak
from heaven. I mean, that's some kind of experience.
Looks to me like I'd spend the next hundred years, if I lived
that long, talking about, you remember when the Lord was transfigured
in front of us? You remember seeing and hearing
Moses and Elijah? Do you remember what they were
talking about? Do you remember hearing the voice of But I probably wouldn't. I'd probably be just like them.
They started down the mountain. The Lord had told them, don't
say anything about what you saw until after I've been raised from the
dead. So they didn't say anything. But they disputed among themselves
concerning him saying he was going to die and be raised from
the dead. And then, since they couldn't
discuss this in front of the master, though this was the thing
they were disputing about, what does he mean he's going to rise
from the dead? They still didn't understand his word. They still
didn't understand how that he must suffer and die as their
substitute and thus enter into his kingdom. And then they turned to him and
they said, Well, if your kingdom is going
to come right now, and we're going to stand here on this earth
and see it right now, and you tell us that you're going to
rise from the dead, we've got some problems. We've got some
problems. The scribes have always taught
us that Elijah must first come. They were sure enough coming
down the mountain. They seem to be running, running down the
mountain. My soul, what lunacy. But how
typical of us. And our Lord doesn't even rebuke
them for it. He just instructs them. He just
instructs them. He said, fellas, don't pay any
attention to the scribes. Don't pay any attention to the
religious majority. Don't pay any attention to the
voice of history and with regard to interpreting the Word of God.
Oh, no, don't pay any attention to that. Wherever there's something
that contradicts what I've told you, God just told you, hear
me. Hear me, not the creeds, not
the confessions, not the theologians of the past, not the theologians
of the present. Hear Him! He's the only one who knows what's
going on. Now these were referring, of course, to that passage with
regard to Malachi in Malachi chapter four, where Malachi said
that before Christ comes, Elijah is going to come as the forerunner
of Christ and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the children to the fathers and thus prepare
the way of the Lord. And our Lord said, That's not to be taken in a real
literal fashion. You can't interpret the Word
of God like you would interpret the Constitution of the United
States. No, no, no, no. You cannot interpret
the Word of God by rules of interpretation that would be given to any honest
man dealing with history. You interpret the Word of God
by the Spirit of God. And I told you, I told you the
kingdom of God is about to be established with you in it. Now anything that appears to
contradict that statement, you can mark it down, you misunderstood.
Is that plain enough? When you got plain, clear statement
given in scripture, Anything, anything. You come up with something
and say, well, you know, I've always heard, I always thought,
if it contradicts the plain, clear revelation of God in Holy
Scripture, you got it wrong. Just mark it down, you got it
wrong. They say, what's the answer? Well, maybe you don't need to
know right now. Maybe you need to just keep your
mouth shut and listen and learn and wait and ask God to teach
you. Our Lord said, Elijah must come. That's right. But Elijah's already come. And they did to him whatsoever
they would. And he didn't even tell them.
He was talking about John the Baptist. He said, I'll just let you chew
on this a while. I'll just let you chew on this a while. And I give you this word from
our God and I give it to you that you may learn by the grace
of God to subject all religious teaching
and all religious influence to the plain revelation of Holy
Scripture. Bob, do you hear me say something that's contrary
to this book? Don't you believe me? Believe this. That's exactly
right. You see something written down
and say, well, Baptists have always believed that. Shoot,
Baptists have always been wrong, then, if they believe something
contrary to this book. Well, you know, our folks have always
been this way. Your folks have always been wrong.
It's contrary to this book. We bow to the Word of God. And
when the battle gets too heavy, the warfare gets too long, the
hill gets too difficult, the rivers seem to overflow you. Ask God to give you one more
glimpse and blessed assurance of the glory he's prepared for
you. and thus inspire your soul to
continue looking to Christ and run with patience the race that's
set before you. Amen.